Let Me Be The One To Save You

I jumped awake at the sound of the front door slamming shut as my Aunt and Uncle left for work. My body told me to just roll over and go back to sleep, to get up later. I was about to give in when my brain reminded me that I was being brought to school this morning.

A loud groan escaped my mouth before I threw off my warm blanket and swung my feet of my bed, onto the cold wooden floor. I grabbed my phone from off my bedside table and saw that I had two messages already.

The first was from Toni: “Hi hon. You were asleep when Austin and I left but I trust you to still get to school on time. Call me if there are any problems. Xx

I sighed and shook my head. Both Toni and Austin were oblivious to me skipping school. They made it far too easy, it was no wonder I had continued with it after the first day.

The second message was from Gerard: “Hey (: U better be up nd ready when I get there. 8:20 sharp :D”

The clock on my phone declared the time to be 7:50am. I decided I had no time for a shower and instead just began getting dressed.
Ten minutes later I was still standing in my pyjamas as I scanned the contents of my wardrobe. I knew Belleville High didn’t have a uniform but I was still unsure as to what was acceptable to wear.
Finally I settled on something I was confident and comfortable in. I was pulling my top over my head when my phone began to buzz. I swiftly pulled the down and pushed my arms through the sleeves before grabbing the vibrating phone.

“Yellow?”

“Purple!” A male voice exclaimed back through the phone and I was shocked at how familiar his voice had already become.

“Hey Gerard,” I greeted the voice on the other end.

“Ello,” He replied in a fake British accent and began to chuckle.

I rolled my eyes at his childishness, “Is there a reason you’re calling me when you’re supposed to be picking me up in,” I glanced at my docking station’s clock, “Fifteen minutes?”

“Well. . . Uhm. . . Yeah,” He replied. “I had to get out of my house early. . . So I’m kind of standing outside your house right now.”

I laughed, “And you claim you’re not a stalker. C’mon in and straight upstairs.”

“’Kay, Bye.”

A smile graced my lips and I clicked end call on my phone as the front door opened softly. I heard equally soft steps on the stairs and I quickly pulled on a pair of black and pink vans, that looked awesome with my black skinny jeans, and left my room to find Gerard.

He was standing at the top of the staircase, awkwardly observing his surroundings and seemingly, slightly intimidated by them.

“Hey,” I chuckled when he jumped at sound of my voice.

“Hi,” He mumbled in reply, his cheeks painted a dark shade of red- obviously embarrassed for jumping at my greeting.

He followed me as I grabbed a hair tie from the main bathroom and threw my purple waves into a ponytail. I picked up my bag from outside my bedroom and indicated for Gerard to follow me downstairs and out the door. Time for school.

Belleville High’s secretaries were not impressed when I arrived and told them who I was. They questioned me for more than ten minutes about why I had not turned up for the first few weeks of school. I thought they were going to have me executed.
The only reason they ended up going easy on me was because of Gerard. All three women absolutely adored him. He convinced them that he and I were friends- which I guess we were- and that we had both caught something the first week of school and had been unable to attend.

“Oh Gerard,” The oldest of the three women, Monica, exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

He smiled and nodded, “Yeah, we’re both a lot better now. Thank you for the concern though.”

The tall, dark haired teenager managed to convince them to put the two of us in all of the same classes. They gladly obliged and soon they loved me almost as much as him.

“Ciara, chicken?”

The sound of Monica’s voice made me stop and turn whilst Gerard kept going and left the office.

The middle-aged, brunette secretary smiled at me, “It’s nice for us to see Gerard so happy again. But please take care of him.”

What she said confused me but, seeing as I was running late and due to be in second period in a minute, I just nodded.
“I will.”



The morning passed quickly, the classes blending into a mindless blur. The school I had attended back in Ireland had been highly academic and this meant that, although I had missed practically the entire first month of school, I was still ahead in nearly every subject. So I spent most of my time staring into space or watching Gerard.
The latter was a lot more interesting. Gerard was an intensely interesting individual to observe. While taking notes his head would constantly move so as to see what was written on the board and his tongue would stick out of his mouth. It was kind of adorable.

“Ciara?”

I looked to my left as saw Gerard, a smile on his face. I cocked my head to the side, confused as to why he was talking to me during English class.

“The bell rang about five minutes ago. You spaced,” He chuckled.

I swivelled my head and sure enough, the class was empty besides us two.

“Sorry,” I smiled sheepishly.

He just shook his head as a smile graced his lips, “It’s fine. Now, c’mon, it’s lunch time.”

My hand was suddenly in his grasp as he dragged me through the halls of Belleville High. He stopped when we arrived at the rather large cafeteria. His eyes scanned the crowds for a moment or two before flashing with recognition and he began dragging me once more to a half full table in the farthest corner.

“Hey everyone.”

The people at the table all replied with some form of greeting before returning to their previous conversations. Gerard sighed and rolled his eyes before banging the palm of his hand against the tabletop. The loud noise had the desired result and all eyes at the table turned to face him.

“Guys, this is Ciara. She new, so be nice,” He looked sternly at one boy with red and black hair.

“Hey Ciara, how’s it hanging?”

I recognised the afro-headed boy and smiled, “Hey Ray, pretty good, you?”

He nodded, his mane of hair bobbing up and down. “S’all good.”

A chubby boy with blonde hair and stunning blue eyes smiled shyly at me, “Hey I’m Bob.”

I waved at him before I felt myself being knocked to the floor. I landed on my back and opened my eyes to figure out what was causing the weight on my stomach.

“My name’s Frank, but we’re going to be friends so you can call me Frankie.”

I recognised the short boy as the one Gerard had warned to ‘be nice’. he was smiled so broadly and looked so adorable and childlike that I had to return it.
Suddenly Gerard’s head was visible and he didn’t look happy with Frankie. His arms snaked around the smaller boy’s waist and he pulled him from my waist.

“What did I tell you Frank?” He all but growled.

I struggled to my feet, watching the exchange between the two friends. Frank looked up at Gerard, his green eyes wide and innocent.

“To tackle Ciara and make her my new best friend?”

Gerard went to hit him but the short and slight boy dodged the hand and ran back to his sear between Ray and Bob.
I laughed, it would be easy to fit in with these guys. They were so like my own friends back in Ireland.

“I’m Mikey!” A boy suddenly exclaimed, getting my undivided attention.

He was a tall, skinny boy. At first glance I’d say that he was a comic book nerd and, judging by his thick-framed glasses and the Batman comic in front of him, I’d be right.

“I’m Gerard’s brother,” He smiled while I stared at him confused.

The thin boy looked nothing like Gerard. They didn’t even share the same hair colour! Gerard’s was raven black while Mikey’s was a light brown, almost dirty blonde.
Gerard’s laugh made me turn my head and aim my puzzled look at him.

“Your reaction to Mikey was hilarious,” He spluttered and I glared at him.

Ray rolled his eyes, “Just ignore him Ciara. Sit down.”

I did as instructed and took a seat at the long table, beside Mikey and opposite Frankie. After he had caught his breath and stopped laughing, Gerard sat on my other side.
The guys around me all began making conversation. They asked me questions but, although they were nice and I liked them, I still found them slightly intimidating. It was difficult to talk to them.

“So tell us about yourself,” Mikey said from beside me. “What’s it like being from Ireland?”

I shrugged, feeling the soft material of my top brush against my chin, “I’m just your average kid. I don’t think it’d really make a difference where I’m from, like.”

They continued to ask me question for a little while but, due to my short answers they soon gave up. I hated being so shy, it was so hard to make new friends. People didn’t want to waste time with the girl who didn’t talk much.

Soon the bell was ringing telling us to get back to class. Everyone at the table stood up and said their goodbyes to each other before leaving. I wasn’t expecting one from any of the guys, I hadn’t been exactly outgoing or nice to them. But, as they walked out the doors and passed Gerard and I, Ray ruffled my hair and smiled; Frankie gave me a bone-crushing hug, squealing when Gerard pulled him away; Bob gave me a small wave; and Mikey said a soft goodbye as he walked out the door. Gerard and I followed the other four boys out the door and in the hallway he turned to me.

“Well?” He asked, his hazel eyes alight with happiness and a smile on his face.

“They’re nice,” I replied whilst returning his contagious smile. “I like them.”

His grin widened, “Good.”

With that our conversation was over and we headed to class together.



“Ciara?” Gerard’s voice brought me out of my thoughts for what must’ve been the hundredth time.

I smiled sheepishly at him as we walked along Belleville’s main street, “Sorry, it’s been a long day.”

He shrugged, “It’s fine. I was just wondering if you wanted to come to the mall with me for a bit. Just to get to know each other and stuff, y’know?”

His hazel eyes were wide and hopeful. I couldn’t say no to an adorable face like his.

“Sure,” I smiled and as we began the short walk to the local mall I pulled out my phone and texted Toni so she wouldn’t worry.



Shopping with Gerard was fun. He wandered into the most random shops and just messed around.
In the two hours we spent in the mall I got to know Gerard better that I would most other people. He really was a lovely guy, both inside and out. He was sweet, when he asked why I had moved to the U.S. and I got all nervous he just smoothly changed the subject. I couldn’t bear to tell him about Fergal and it seemed that he respected that, not pursuing it any further. He just wanted to hang out with me and have fun.

I was only as I walked down the street that led to Toni’s house- I just couldn’t call it ‘home’ yet- I realised I’d been happy. For the first time since Fergal’s passing I’d been genuinely happy. Maybe hanging out with Gerard and his friends wasn’t a bad thing.